Speer Gold Dot Short Barrel Personal Protection round is specifically designed for barrels as short as three inches. In the past packing a short barrel meant you were dealing with less velocity and less reliable expansion. Speer has created an entire category of specialized ammunition designed specifically for back-up guns. Gold Dot Short Barrel was introduced in 2004 and designed from the ground up to work in 2-inch barrels. Speer ATK redesigned select Gold Dot bullets to make the cavity larger for reliable expansion at the reduced velocities common to short barrel handguns. You also get less "kick" to keep you on target when wielding sharp snapping small frame guns.